The Mumbai Film Festival (Oct 18-25) has announced a raft of developments, including a move to the south of the city and a new competition section for Indian films.

The festival, previously held mostly in the Juhu and Andheri districts of Mumbai, will now take place in the south of the city, with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Inox theatre as the main venues.

To celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, the festival is also introducing a competition for Indian films with cumulative cash rewards of around $30,000 (Rs1.5m). Other special events will also be held to celebrate the anniversary.

In addition, the Mumbai Film Festival also announced that high-profile Indian director-producers Anurag Kashyap and Sudhir Mishra have joined the board of the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), which organises the festival. Joining as trustees, they will be actively involved in future development of Reliance Entertainment-backed event.

This year’s edition of the festival will also pay tribute to Italian cinema, with a package of films from leading Italian directors and restored classics such as Maciste (1915) and Inferno (1911). The festival will also host a new edition of Rendezvous with French Cinema, in collaboration with the French embassy and Unifrance, following the success of previous editions.

The move to the south of the city should give the festival and its accompanying market, the Mumbai Film Mart, room to expand. Although much of the local film industry is based in Juhu and Andheri, the city’s mid-town venues are limited. MAMI said it also plans to upgrade this year’s Mumbai Film Mart, with details to be announced at a later date.

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